Nicolás de Ovando | |
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| 4th Governor General of the Viceroyalty of the Indies | |
| In office 15 April 1502 – 10 July 1509 | |
| Monarchs | Isabella I & Ferdinand V (until 1504) Joanna I (after 1504) co-monarch: Philip I (1506) |
| Preceded by | Francisco de Bobadilla |
| Succeeded by | Diego Columbus |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1460 |
| Died | 29 May 1511 (aged 50-51) Seville, Crown of Castile |
| Resting place | Church ofSan Benito de Alcántara |
FreyNicolás de Ovando (c. 1460 – 29 May 1511[1][Note 1]) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and aKnight of theOrder of Alcántara, a military order of Spain. He wasGovernor of the Indies in theColumbian Viceroyalty (seated inHispaniola) from 1502 until 1509, sent by the Spanish crown to investigate the administration ofFrancisco de Bobadilla and re-establish order. Ovando "pacified" the island of Hispaniola by force, subduing native Americans and rebellious Spaniards, with disorderly colonists being sent back to Spain in chains.[2] He implemented theencomienda system with the nativeTaíno population.[3]
Nicolás de Ovando was born around 1460 inExtremadura. Some place his birth inBrozas butGonzalo Fernández de Oviedo knew him well and said he was a native of the city ofCáceres. Belonging to a distinguished family, he was the second son of Captain Diego de Cáceres Ovando and his wife Isabel Flores, a native of the town of Brozas.[1]
Ovando entered the militaryOrder of Alcántara, where he became aMaster (Mestre orMaitre) or aCommander-Major (Comendador-Mayor). This Spanish military order, founded in 1156, resembled theOrder of Templars, with whom it fought the Moors during theReconquista. His elder brother wasDiego de Cáceres y Ovando.
AsCommander of Lares, Ovando became a favourite of the SpanishCatholic Monarchs, particularly pious QueenIsabella I of Castile. Thus, on 3 September 1501, in response to complaints fromChristopher Columbus and others aboutFrancisco de Bobadilla, Isabella appointed Ovando to replace Bobadilla. Ovando became the third Governor of the Indies, the Islands, and theProvince of Tierra Firme.
On 13 February 1502, he sailed from Spain with a fleet of thirty ships.[4] It was the largest fleet that had ever sailed to the New World.
The thirty ships carried around 2,500 colonists.[5] UnlikeColumbus's earlier voyages, this group of colonists was deliberately selected to represent an organized cross-section of Spanish society. The Spanish Crown intended to develop theWest Indies economically and thereby expand Spanish political, religious, and administrative influence in the region. Along with him also cameFrancisco Pizarro, who would later explore western South America and conquer theInca Empire. Another ship carriedBartolomé de las Casas, who became known as the 'Protector of the Indians' for exposing atrocities committed by Ovando and his subordinates. Hernán Cortés, a family acquaintance and distant relative, was supposed to sail to the Americas in this expedition, but was prevented from making the journey by an injury he sustained while hurriedly escaping from the bedroom of a married woman ofMedellín.[Note 2]
The expedition reachedSanto Domingo in April 1502, and includedDiego de Nicuesa andLucas Vázquez de Ayllón. Also on board were 13Franciscans, led by Friar Alonso de Espinar, bringing the total on the island to 25.[6][page needed]
When Ovando arrived in Hispaniola in 1502, he found the once-peaceful natives in revolt. Ovando and his subordinates ruthlessly suppressed this rebellion through a series of bloody campaigns, including theJaragua Massacre andHigüey Massacre. Ovando's administration in Hispaniola became notorious for its cruelty toward the nativeTaíno. Estimates of the Taino population at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards in 1492 vary, with Anderson Córdova giving a maximum of 500 000 people inhabiting the island.[7] By the 1507 census, according toBartolomé de las Casas, battlefield slaughter, enslavement and disease had reduced the native population to 60 000 people, and the decline continued. In 1501, Ovando ordered thefirst importation of Spanish-speaking black slaves into the Americas. Many Spanish aristocrats ordered slaves to work as servants in their homes.
After the conquests made by his lieutenants includingJuan Ponce de León andJuan de Esquivel, Ovando founded several cities on Hispaniola. He also developed the mining industry, introduced the cultivation ofsugar cane with plants imported from theCanary Islands, and commissioned expeditions of discovery and conquest throughout the Caribbean. Ovando allowed Spanish settlers to use the natives in forced labour, a system known asencomienda,[3] to provide food for the colonists and for ships returning to Spain. Hundreds of thousands of Taíno died while forced to extract gold from the nearby mines.
Pursuant to a deathbed promise he made to his wife QueenIsabella I, KingFerdinand II of Aragon recalled Ovando to Spain in 1509 to answer for his treatment of the native people.Diego Columbus was appointed his successor as governor, but the Spanish Crown permitted Ovando to retain possession of the property he brought back from the Americas.
Little is known of Ovando's activities after his return to Spain in 1509. He probably spent much of his time in the town of Brozas, the headquarters of the Order of Alcántara. In February 1511, Ferdinand ordered Ovando to accompany him on a campaign against Oran, in North Africa. The expedition never took place but Ovando was present at a general meeting of his order in Seville at the beginning of May. On 29 May 1511, Ovando died in Seville. His body was transferred to the monastery ofSan Benito de Alcántara. In his will, he founded a chapel and requested that the friars say a requiem mass every week.[1]
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